So how were the interviews?

**sbailey** · 09-12-2005, 09:23 PM

Originally Posted by Apollyon

Sorry to sound really neurotic but does choosing physics style questions in a medical interview put you at a disadvantage.
In my first interview I was given a choice of 4 objects to talk about: a CD, a brain (model of one), an organic molecule (couldn't tell what it was) and a panflute. I chose the CD more or less at an impulse and now I'm worried that I should have chosen the brain especially since my interveiwer had written a book on neurophysiology. Am I right to be worried or does that not make any difference?

I'm sure it doesn't make a difference which question you choose - it's a thinking test, not a personality test! I'm guessing this was Dr Carpenter? If it reassures you at all, people who are good at physics tend to be good at understanding some of the more difficult scientific concepts you encounter in preclinical medicine - although for most people it is the workload that is the main problem.

By the way, I'm not sure it's best for everyone to be talking about the interviews so openly on this forum when others are still being interviewed and your own offers haven't been made yet. Some admissions tutors do check these forums, and other students waiting for their interviews certainly will!

**digital8888** · 09-12-2005, 09:25 PM

it was st. edmund's college

im also an international student and i'm completing a B.Sc in Canada (in Bio and Math as a minor.) So given my age (21) and my background, it was a little relevant to ask why the uk and y medicine

**digital8888** · 09-12-2005, 09:26 PM

i was told that at st. edmund's, they have a meeting on dec 14 and more or less finalize what students are going to be in or not. All the interviews are already done at st. edmund's as well and we will find the results in early january

**crossed fingers**

**Ukayzfinest** · 09-12-2005, 10:18 PM

hey caretaker i found that Dr henderson did talk a lot but he asked some very probing and delving questions. Everytime i got the answer he kept questioning me for even more obscure answers to the question. I thought his interview went well as we managed to cover a lot of ground and go into a lot of complex stuff (little of which i understood properly before the interview).

**Apollyon** · 09-12-2005, 10:53 PM

You're probably right sbailey, we really shouldn't be talking about this so much but I dont know anyone else who has applied for medicine at Cambridge so I'm bursting to talk to someone about it. There's also the problem that I am naturally quite obsessive about things which is probably not good if I am going to become a doctor

.

**psyche87** · 09-12-2005, 11:25 PM

At least the questions seem to differ for every interview (well that certainly was the case over here when we compared a bit after our interviews), so I doubt it will really have a very big effect. Although I didn't even know questions from any other interview before my own interview, so oh well...

**Tc_uk** · 10-12-2005, 03:15 AM

Had my interview on Wednesday. Came out thinking it had gone fairly well, but now looking back i'm no longer so confident. I'm definitely not looking forward to receiving the letter at the beginning of January!

**msnosey** · 10-12-2005, 05:47 AM

i too found that I was listening rather a lot to Dr Henderson rather than talking, apart from the odd "yes, I see. "

What got me was that they asked NOTHING about me as a person, not a thing from my PS, just general brainwork and push push push till they reached my intellectual limit.

PLUS they told me, " I hope you haven't bonded too much with your fellow candidates today, because only 1 of you will be receiving an offer". Harsh..